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Like other religions, Taoism tells us that the universe is orderly. Unlike theistic/deistic religions, in Taoism the order of things does not reflect anything outside of nature. Things are organized. There seems to be a hierarchy of ontological developments starting with a primordial...

It's a better (more constructive) than doing crossword puzzles. :) Btw, what did you expect to see on an Interfaith forum, Shawn? Gardening tips? :confused:

Re: An Interfaith view You're very close to making a convert out of me. :)

Religion is largely speculative, isnt it? Does it make sense to look for physical proof for metaphysical things?

The concepts I was referring to were espoused by Gnostics and were apparently widely held among early Christians.

Re: An Interfaith view But again, there seems to be no divine intention of any kind in the Taoist creation myth. So one would have to conclude that the similarities are superficial. "The Son proceeds from the Father" is referring to the Incarnation (Christ Jesus). Is there any equivalent in...

Re: An Interfaith view riginally Posted by seattlegal There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was and formless, standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and...

If you look at what was very popular notion of G-d as outside Creation, the implication was that G-d did not act in history and in that sense was seen as not involved with His Creation. A theological ex nihilo Creation doctrine was elaborated at about the same time. There was probably a connection.

Thomas, the comment you are responding to was a comparison between the ex nihilo Creator and a panentheistic evolutionary G-d. In theological circles the difference is recognized.

Hi Thomas, I see you did not cite a panentheist who posited equivalence "between God and creature". Is that because there is none? The "equivalence between God and creature" language sounds like pantheism (G-d is all) ad thus misrepresents panentheism (G-d in all/G-d as the whole) and creates...

Take my word for it, miracles happen.

Miracles and free will can't coexist?

This sounds good to me. References?

Re: An Interfaith view That's too bad because that means you can't compare Taoism with theisms that have Revelation to explain divine intention!! I never denied the agency of Tao. I merely said that the passages you cited don't qualify Taoism as theism.

Re: An Interfaith view I'm fine with resorting to ambiguity as a way to avoid being pinned down. :rolleyes: But the fact is, there 's no description of divine intention or divine agency, which is what you'd expect for a Theism. You can't very well argue that the Taoists meant for us to infer...

Re: An Interfaith view This restates the notion of levels of organization, which have a quality of being totally impersonal. There's no deity at work and there's no ultimate divine purpose behind any of it. Without a conscious and intentional deity, we have no not match to panentheism, where...

Well, there's Purgatory, which gives you a shot at Heaven after being purified by suffering. Where's Bro. Thomas when you need him? He can tell you all about Purgatory. :)

I would say that the inability to connect and have good relationships is hell. Violence is just a symptom of it. The implications of loneliness are far reaching. Lack recognition, not having shared experiences, and not having other people around to help reduce the ambiguity of human...